#tony chung

[gamerwoman3d]

There was a post on mk subreddit where someone posted a model that (I think at least) looks a lot like Bi Han.

His name's is Ibere Nakamura. If you look for the post you can find the comparison pic

My understanding is he already denied the claim, according to this source:

Screenshot of the source is below the cut, jn case twitter is unavailable. Ibere Nakamura is clearly a gorgeous man, but a scanned computer render of his face would look different from Bi-Han.

I still think it's Stephen Oyoung.

From a technical standpoint, Nakamura is NOT in close physical proximity to Warner Bros/NRS studios. A quick glance shows he is Brazilian and Japanese and his management company is based in Italy. That would make it difficult for him to acquire and accept work contracts in the USA where the game was made. He also has no visible prior videogame or mocap experience.

[Above Images - Characters based on Computer Generated imagery utilizing Stephen Oyoung's facial scan data.]

Oyoung, on the other hand, already has a credit in the game ["kredit," Sektor, MK1.] He has already done motion capture, facial mocap, and sat for 3D face modeling for another major game studio IN Los Angeles where Warner Bros/NRS is headquartered. (Disney/Marvel Spider-Man, as Mr. Negative.) That means he has already done the type of work required to create an angry scary asian video game character, IN the same geolocation as NRS/WB (Disney lot and WB ranch lots are right next door.) WB/NRS would have needed that skillset at that location at that timeframe. AND He already would have been on set/cleared by security to enter the WB premises just for the VO sessions.

[Above Images: A computer generated character based on Disney/Marvel's facial scans of Stephen Oyoung compared to computer generated images of Bi-Han.]

It is understandable if Oyoung does not look like his characters after the computer geometry scan/final render. Even Noah Fleder doesn't look like Kenshi to me, and he is 💯 Kenshi’s model, Konfirmed.

But what I'm seeing is similarities between the sculpts for Mr. Negative [Disney/Marvel] and the sculpts for Bi-Han [WB/NRS]. The 3D faces from the scan can look so different from the actors' faces that it can be near unrecognizable.

[Above Images - Same guy, according to computer geometry]

It would ALSO explain why there's no official kredit to Sub-Zero's face model. The imdb for this game is a clusterf*ck right now. Tony Chung is credited as Sub-Zero's face model for MK11 and we know he's also Scorpion's face in MK1. Both were a version of Kuai Liang. But in ONE game Kuai Liang is Scorpion and ONE game Kuai Liang is Sub-Zero. So it's easy for the folks at IMDB (who probably never played all these games) to assume that Sub-Zero's actor from the last game IS Sub-Zero from the current game, especially considering that there is ONE NUMBER DIFFERENCE between MK1 and MK11.

Ultimately, if Stephen Oyoung is the face of Bi-Han (Sub-Zero) in MK1, then it is between him, wb, nrs, imdb, his agent, and his management, to ensure that he gets properly credited for his work. And if an agent goes to imdb one day and sees he's kredited as Sektor on MK1, that agent might just check that "Ensure WB have Stephen credited in MK1" off their todo list. This is true ESPECIALLY if correcting imdb's listing means they have to fend off a sea of misinformed beardnecks who can't tell the difference between MK1 and MK11, or who have no idea how to explain the difference between SubScorp(Traditional) from SubScorp(Problematic).

[Above Images: An image of Stephen Oyoung compared to computer generated images of Bi-Han.]

Tony Chung also never to my knowledge claimed to be Bi-Han's (Sub-Zero's) MK1 model: Chung only claims to be Kuai Liang.

But it would be so easy to get misinformed by someone who misread an article. "Tony Chung was Sub-Zero and Scorpion in mortal kombat" is a true statement. But so were other actors, such as John Turk and all the actors who played Scorpion/Hanzo prior to Tony Chung's takeover in MK1. But of course Tony probably wasn't BOTH characters in the SAME release.

It's a headache for people who KNOW Midway Mortal Kombat lore and WB/NRS New Era MK1 lore to explain Sub-Zero, OR Kuai Liang, OR Bi-Han, OR Noob Saibot, OR Kuai Liang's Scorpion transformation to others in the know. Imagine trying to explain it to some office worker who doesn't play these games and doesn't care about them.

[Above Images: Stephen Oyoung's Mr. Negative character has vantablack skin and glowing eyes when using his power. This would be important to WB's casting decision for Bi-Han, as Noob Saibot will theoretically look similar. WB/NRS had to cast someone whose facial features will still track properly and look good when the character is essentially "in dark mode"]

I imagine workers in the departments in charge of doing the kredits can make mistakes with that particular kredit easily.

Ultimately, I don't see Warner Brothers and Nether Realm Studios bothering to cast Stephen Oyoung, a highly accomplished ASIAN actor with Disney and MARVEL experience in martial arts MoCap purely for some cyborg effort noises. Not when he has *that face* and that experience with crafting a game character for a top competitor.

And not just any type of character - a terrifyingly powerful, charasmatic, murderous leader of an ancient ASIAN clan with top tier martial arts prowess. That's a tall order, and Stephen Oyoung fills it. He filled it in Spider-Man. And I think he filled it in Mortal Kombat, too.

I've been wrong in the past. We may never know for certain the identity of Bi-Han’s face model. For all I know, Stephen took one look at this dickcicle blog and told his agent "On second thought let's *not* announce that I was the face model for that guy." I wouldn't blame him.

[Above Images: Bi-Han and Stephen Oyoung make a point.]

But it could also be that he, like a lot of actors, game creators, mocap specialists, and other creatives, just have their hands full at the moment. The SAG-AFTRA strike is over and there's still a lack of protection for most of the VOs, mocap folk, game folk, and live streaming entertainers. It isn't impossible that he's not on great terms with the studios if he elected to speak out about some of the behind-the-scenes problems of the game-entertainment industry.

He may not even legally be in a position to ask them for kredit where kredit is due.

It's honestly the only explanation I can think of as to WHY the fuck we do not have a clear-ass answer for whose faces we're looking at in these damn games.

Below is a screenshot from January 29, 2024

[bdsmsub67]

[asianmenarewinning]

[danlaw1991]

Kung Fu is the show that got me into doing edits in the first place. Here’s some edits of the Kung Fu cast together.

[lesbianmaxevans]

Max Evans in Roswell, New Mexico || Dennis Soong in Kung Fu  

[geekverse08]

Kung Fu season 3 cast!❤️

[thirst-for-boys]

Michael Bow Eddie Liu JB Tadena

[zhanglinghez]

Tony Leung as Lai Yiu Fai & Leslie Cheung as Ho Po Wing

Happy Together (1997) dir. Wong Kar Wai

[nicholasgalitzinemedia]

+

[pradasunset]

Cannes film festival 2024

[gamerwoman3d]

If Tony was Bi Han he would have said so, iirc he was one of the first people to announce that he was a face model. I see no reason why he would hide.

Ibere is the best possibility I've seen so far, I wouldn't be surprised he's spooked by all the Bi Han thirst.

For the most part, the "Actor spooked by Bi-Han Thirst" bit was a joke on my part. Most of the time, the face models know what to expect if they google "[my character name] rule 34."

I see no real reason why Nakamura would deny being the character and no real reason why WB/NRS would not kredit him. That man is gorgeous. He's probably been handling nerd thirst since grade school.

I would think that claiming credit for Bi-Han (or any character that the internet is thirsty for) would only net him a higher paycheck. For a man who is so beautiful that companies literally hire him for his beauty, internet thirst and horny on main blogging are probably a nuisance at worst. I hope it is the least of his worries.

And I agree that Tony Chung would have said so. He has no reason not do so. Like, "Humblebrag but I am BOTH of these gorgeous motherfukkas." It isn't like he needed to hide his involvement in the game in any way - he already took credit for Scorpion.

Again, I believe the model is someone that is named in the kredits. WB has enough trouble with the actors'/trade unions right now without doing something so egregious as outright failure to credit a cast member. On the other hand, they can get away with a partial failure. If the actor's name is listed in the credits, but the credit given was for some smaller thing (Example: Additional Voices) it is harder to penalize them for that.

Because they can argue that he was in the credits, with no breech of contract.

Also, Stephen currently has bigger fish to fry, it seems. He wants to get in to the MCU as Martin Li in live action.

Claiming he was Sub-Zero's face model might help towards that goal, but more likely would hinder it. I trust him to know what's gonna help his career most. Disney / MCU wants their actors' net/film history to be squeaky clean, even for their villains. Mortal Kombat is particularly gory in its violence in a way that Spiderman is not. And let's face it, Sub-Zero is the fatality dummy. All of the worst shock-value moments are practiced on Sub-Zero first. You know the ones.

It might not be something Disney wants associated with Spider-Man.

Stephen also openly admitted that there is some legal issues that need to be addressed between videogame actors in Sag-Aftra, Sag-Aftra itself, and game developers. So there's no telling how much cooperation he gets from SAG if he does take an action toward getting himself and the other models properly credited.

I'm just saying he's one of the only people who might have logical reasons for not promoting his work on Mortal Kombat.

I can still be wrong. It's just my best guess.

[dozydawn]

1976-1977. Photographed by Ron Galella.

Britt Ekland, Yun Chi Chung, Toni Tennille, Lisa Miller.

[asianmenarewinning]

[danlaw1991]

Photo edits of Tony Chung who played Dennis Soong in Kung Fu.

[mater-argento]

Human Lanterns (1982)

[of-fear-and-love]

Tony Leung in 鐵甲無敵瑪利亞 / I Love Maria (1988)